Qualifications

About

After working professionally in the music industry for twenty-five years, I have been working in Higher Education since 2008, specializing in Popular Music studies and the Creative Industries. I undertake a range of industry-related activities: in 2012, for example, after an invitation from the Governor of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, I served as an advisor for the Welsh Cultural Olympiad, and continue to be active in the professional music industry as a musician and writer

Experience

I was signed to Zomba Music Publishing as a house writer from 1986 to 1989 writing mainly for TV and film. In 1995 I signed a major publishing deal with Sony Music where I wrote and delivered three top 40 singles and a top 40 album. As an A&R consultant I have worked closely with Rough Trade Records, Sony Music and Universal Records, developing emerging talent.

As a songwriter, I have sold over a million records, with production, writing, and synchronization credits that include Universal Films, Sony Music and Geffen Records. In 2009 A&M Records presented me with a Double Platinum Disc for my work with three- times Brit and Grammy Award winning act Duffy. As a session musician, I have worked and played guitar for Dido on her 7 x platinum selling album, Life For Rent, and have also worked and recorded with Bernard Butler, Urge Overkill, John Squire and Lene Marlin. I have over 25 years live and touring experience, including the USA, Japan and Europe

CRITICALRESPONSE:
2014 South Wales Echo 50 greatest Welsh songs of all time
2014 BBC Radio 6 Nations Favourite Britpop anthems
2008 Platinum Disc Duffy Rockferry
2005 BBC Radio 1 Top 125 John Peel Sessions of all time
2003 Mojo magazine Top Twelve Britpop Albums
1999 NME Brat award
1996 NME Albums of the Year
1996 Melody Maker Albums of the Year
1996 New York Times Critics Choice Record of the Year
1996 The Guardian: Albums of the Year

2015 Record Collector Magazine: ‘Chock-full of radio-friendly, hedonistically inclined anthems, The Big 3 chimed with the euphoria of Britpop, but its infectiously hooky wares have also aged agreeably…proves categorically that the talented Newport trio had more to offer than merely muscle and volume’

2015 Guitar Magazine: ‘Newport trio 60ft Dolls were one of the most exciting bands of the Britpop era, with a breakneck live show that was almost impossible to follow… 20 years on, their debut has aged better than most of their peers’

2015 Viva La Rock: ‘It still stands up 20 years later. The Dolls had a knack of writing great chunky pop singles… embedded with smart hooks and terrace choruses and fuelled by 5 star rock and roll petrol’

2015 Line of Best Fit: ’It’s a classic album from the Britpop era, something most other bands from around that time were clearly incapable of creating’

2015 Western Mail: ’Celebrate the deluxe reissue of the Dolls’ masterpiece…an underdog’s opus that coursed with manic energy, surged with breakneck riffs and served up cracked kitchen sink tales’

2015 Sunday Times: ’This 1996 debut album – augmented here by b sides and a John Peel session – captures precisely the mix of aggression, urgency, frustration, and killer pop-smart tunes…evocative of a time when pop was still fiercely tribal’

Memberships

External

2017 External Examiner BA (Hons) Music. LIPA
2015 External Examiner BA (Hons) Songwriting at BIMM
2015 Validation Panelist: ICMP | University of East London
2015 External Validation (BA) Performance and Production Solent University
2015 External Validation (BA) Music Management: Solent University
2015 External Validation (BA) Digital Music: Solent University
2015 External Validation (FD) Popular Music Production: Solent University
2014 External Validation Panellist, BA Music, University of South Wales
2012 Bristol Institute of Modern Music external reviewer Bristol Institute of Modern Music
2011 External Validation Panellist, MA in Song Writing: University of West Scotland

Consultancy

Universal Records
Sony Music
Rough Trade Records
1965 Records

Research

2015 Research in Popular Music Symposium: University of Huddersfield – the Songwriter and the Song
2014 IASPM UK and Ireland Biennial Conference: Cork University: Worlds of Popular Music – The Songwriter as Seeker.
2014 HEA Media City UK, Salford Quays: Heroes and Monsters – extra-ordinary tales of learning and teaching in the arts and humanities.
2014 HEA Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts: Teaching, Learning and Assessing Songwriting in HE – No Guru, No Method, No Teacher
2013 TaPRA Conference, Glasgow University: comparative exploration of HE training for stand-up comedy and popular music performance.
2013 Pop Mac University of Liverpool: International Conference on Analysing Popular Music – Music and the Mythic Image
2012 IASPM Media City UK, Salford Quays: Imagining Communities Musically -Sleepless in the New Seattle
2012 Leeds College of Music: International Song Writing Conference – Free Your Mind and Your Verse Will Follow

Areas of Expertise

The Role of Mythology in Relation to Popular Culture
Iconography and Popular Music
The Art and Craft of Songwriting

Twitter

@parfittrj

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